Then on Monday I received a letter. Less of a letter actually, more of a pack. A race pack. A race pack for the Chester marathon. The same Chester marathon that I thought I hadn't entered. In fact I was so sure I hadn't entered that a month ago I was going to pay the entrance fee to make sure I got a discounted rate but decided against because I felt like I wasn't going to be ready to run.
Turns out I must have entered as soon as entries opened after the last Chester marathon. This left me in a quandary. I'm in Chester on race weekend. I've paid the entrance fee and I am reasonably trained. Not exactly marathon trained but enough to get around. Do I run it even though the chances of getting a PB are slim? Do I run it knowing that I haven't run any distance over 16 miles so far this year? Do I run it even though I lost my running mojo over a month ago?
I'll do anything for a free banana and bottle of water.
So how do I approach this run? This morning I went for a 12 mile run at marathon pace (assuming I'm going for a 3:30 marathon). I found it very tough, so I think that's answered the question of whether I should run it as a race. So, if my PB is out of the question, what pace should I go for? What is my goal?
I would like to think that I can still get around in under 4 hours even though I am not fully trained up. My legs have plenty of miles in them and if I start off slow then I should be able to treat it as an extended training run. By 9 minute miling I should be able to enjoy myself, take it relatively easy and hopefully up the pace in the last 6 miles. Best laid plans of mice and men and all that but I think it's a reasonable goal to aim for. It'll also give me more experience of the distance. I can't imagine it will be easy (26.2 miles never is) but I should at least feel better finishing than I did last year.
Race report will come shortly afterwards.
